(All Bible quotations, except otherwise stated, are from the New King James Version).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit fills the believer in Christ with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and releases upon him the gift(s) of the Spirit. The effects of the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit are to energise the believer and empower him/her for effective service and ministry. The initial infilling of the Holy Spirit after believing and obeying the gospel is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit experienced in the life and ministry of a believer wanes with service and use. Unless regularly refilled, a believer baptised in the Holy Spirit runs the risk of running out of gas. We shall examine Scripture to see how we ought to be regularly filled with the Spirit, despite the initial baptism, to keep the fire burning!
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of Christ and filled them for the first time. The promise Christ made to them concerning the Comforter was thus fulfilled. The baptism of the Holy Spirit they experienced on the first occasion was manifested by the gift of speaking in foreign languages they did not learn, leading to wonder and amazement among their foreign audience who could hear them speak their foreign languages clearly. This was one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit on display. It led to Peter’s inspired sermon and the conversion of about three thousand people. This was preaching of the gospel with power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit! The result was amazing: one sermon produced three thousand converts! No wonder Christ asked them to wait until they were endued with the power of the Holy Spirit before launching out to fulfil the great commision he had given them. The great commision can only be successfully fulfilled with the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit!
The Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
The Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
The Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
The Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
The Acts 2:6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
The Acts 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
The Acts 2:8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
The Acts 2:9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
The Acts 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
The Acts 2:11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
The Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
The Acts 2:13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
The Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
The Acts 2:15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
The Acts 2:16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
The Acts 2:17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
The Acts 2:18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
The Acts 2:19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
The Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.’
The Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
The Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The Acts 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
The Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
The first baptism of the Holy Spirit endued the disciples with power from on high, and enabled them witness for Christ in a powerful way, with tremendous success. We see many signs and wonders done by the disciples by virtue of the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon them. As they continued to minister to people in the power of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, they got regularly refilled by the Holy Spirit. The initial baptism of the Holy Spirit wasn’t sufficient to carry them throughout the Christian journey. They needed regular refillings to replenish lost virtues and keep the fire burning. As Jesus demonstrated to us in his encounter with the woman who had the issue of blood, virtue or power leaves a minister whenever the Holy Spirit works through the person to effect healing or deliverance, or to bless people in other ways. If virtue could leave Jesus to effect healing in people, then every minister needs to replenish lost virtue after each ministration. The more we minister in the power of the Holy Spirit to people, the more we need to go back to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Each time we meet resistance or opposition, we need to pray for more power to face and overcome them. We need more of God as we serve! We need to replenish power everyday!
Luke 8:43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any,
Luke 8:44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
Luke 8:45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
Luke 8:46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.”
Luke 8:47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
Luke 8:48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
The Acts 4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
The Acts 4:2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
The Acts 4:3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
The Acts 4:4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
The Acts 4:5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,
The Acts 4:6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
The Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
The Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
The Acts 4:9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
The Acts 4:10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
The Acts 4:11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’
The Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
The Acts 4:14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
The Acts 4:15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
The Acts 4:16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
The Acts 4:17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”
The Acts 4:18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
The Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
The Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
The Acts 4:21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.
The Acts 4:22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
The Acts 4:23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
The Acts 4:24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
The Acts 4:25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
The Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
The Acts 4:27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
The Acts 4:28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
The Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
The Acts 4:30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
The Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
The Apostle Paul, in his admonition to the Ephesians, enjoined them to be filled with the Spirit, rather than being filled with wine which leads to drunkenness. The Apostle encouraged believers to be filled to the brim with the Spirit, to the same extent drunkards get filled with wine to experience inebriation. Believers are thus exhorted to be constantly filled with the Spirit, rather than indulging in works of the flesh. It is only as we get filled with the Spirit that we put to death the flesh and its works. Paul equally prayed for the Christians in Colosse to be filled with knowledge and wisdom, all gifts of the Holy Spirit. The more we’re filled with the Spirit, the more we grow in knowledge and wisdom and spiritual maturity. To be filled with the Spirit means to regularly receive full and fresh anointings of the Spirit. It means not to rely on the initial baptism of the Holy Spirit as a once-and-for-all phenomenon! We need to be overwhelmed or subsumed in the Spirit always. Once we run low on the anointing because of constant usage, we need new topping up, new refillings, to keep us always ready for service!
Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
In conclusion, the filling of the Holy Spirit is not a once-and-for-all phenomenon. After the initial baptism that endues one with power from one high, one needs to be regularly refilled with the Spirit. This is because, as one ministers in the power of the Spirit, virtue leaves the minister, as he uses the anointing to minister to people. The more we minister, the more we need to be refilled. It is as we get regularly filled with the Spirit that we serve God more effectively and put to death the works of the flesh. May we go to God daily for fillings of the Holy Spirit, after the initial baptism, so that we will always walk in the Spirit, and thus avoid fulfilling the lusts and desires of the flesh.
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